GREE Ventures launches US$50M fund for Asian tech startups

After having invested U$25 million in 13 startups, Japan's GREE Ventures wants to do more

Thirteen startups. US$25 million. GREE Ventures has spent every drop of its first fund, and will be going places with its second fund for tech startups in Asia.

The Japan-based venture arm of GREE Inc., a company that focuses on mobile and social media, has closed its second fund, AT-I Investment Limited Partnership, with US$50 million to spare.

The fund has investments from various Japanese investors, including GREE Inc., SME Support JAPAN, Credit Saison Co. Ltd., Ateam Inc., and Mizuho Capital Co. Ltd.

In addition, the US$50 million fund, like its predecessor, will target the information and communication technology (ICT) sector in Japan and Southeast Asia.

Active Series A playerGREE Ventures’ top priority is still to go after Series A stage investments (US$1 million to US$3 million per company) as a lead investor.

According to an official statement, since December 2011, the firm has met with 800 startups in Japan and Southeast Asia, and invested in 13 companies, including Singapore- and Indonesia-based startups such as Luxola, PriceArea, and BerryBenka.

While GREE Ventures is a subsidiary of GREE, it noted that the former does not “seek synergies” with the latter. This means that the fund will not neccesarily help GREE’s core business, which is in the realm of social gaming and media.

Furthermore, the fund will focus on consumer internet, mobile, software and service, and cloud services. The same official document also noted that the game and content business will not be in GREE Ventures’ area of investment.